The South Whidbey boys tennis team played some experienced seniors from Burlington-Edison on Wednesday, losing a tight one 4-3.

The Tigers had their claws out.

“Burlington really knows how to make your life miserable,” said Falcon coach Tom Kramer. “I have no doubt some of those guys will be serious contenders when districts begin in 10 weeks.”

In singles play, Falcon Riley Newman won 6-1, 6-1, Van Morgen slammed his first set 6-0, then stumbled to a tie-breaker win 7-6, Brendan Riley won in three sets

6-4, 6-7 and 4-6 and freshman Guy Sparkman won his initial set 6-4, then stumbled, losing two straight 5-7, 4-6.

The doubles teams were pretty much shut down by the Tigers.

Zach Comfort and Harrison Price lost 2-6, 2-6; Eric Vanderbilt-Mathews and Steve Raden lost 1-6, 4-6 and Aren and Evan Mattens couldn’t get any sort of game going, losing 0-6, 0-6.

Newman, who won the 2009 state 2A tennis championship in May, said he’s treated differently this year.

“I think I get a little more respect from coaches and players, but I can’t let it go to my head,” he said.

Kramer knows about the burdens of stardom, having guided a number of championship singles and doubles players to glory in his 36-year tenure as head coach.

“It’s easier to climb the ladder to a state title than to maintain the edge,” he explained. “Riley is seeing that this season.”

Newman has lost only one match to date — to Sehome’s Will Topp — and was attacked hard by Bellingham’s top-seeded Ethan McKell 6-4, 6-0 in the season’s third match.

“He pushed me, but I turned up the pressure and took it to him,” Newman said.

Against Burlington’s Jack Lefevre, Newman said his opponent’s serve was weak, “so I put the ball in the corners, set up a volley and put it away.”

Morgen said he felt “in the groove” in his first set against Tiger Will Stewart.

“In the second, I tensed up a bit and went into a tiebreaker. I think I got a little over confident,” he admitted. “Coach Kramer teaches us that staying focused mentally wins matches and, you know, he’s right.”

His only loss has been to Sehome’s Evan Medell.

“Overall, the season’s been good, and I know I’ll play Evan again,” he said.

Third seed Riley recalled that he and Tiger Nick Brunner were evenly matched.

“After the first set, I was up 4-0 and thought I had it in the bag,” Riley said. “But he came back and won the tiebreaker.”

Kramer told Riley to hit deep into Brunner’s corner, come back and set up a volley.

“It threw him off balance and I won the match,” Riley said.

He recognizes what he must do to compete in districts against players he lost to this season.

“I have to recall their weaknesses and game play and concentrate on making good shots with my forehand, which is my strength,” he noted.

“The focus is now on keeping the players healthy and focused on the prize — being prepared for districts — which start on Oct. 17,” Kramer added.